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Okay, you can put me in front of a firing squad: I didn't love Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater, 2014). I did love the concept of the 12-year filming, although Michael Apted's got that beat by several decades. And I thought the scene seaming was beautiful, with the year-older Mason going from one room to another, for instance. I even was pleasantly surprised by Ethan Hawke's performance (Patricia Arquette: okay). But I just didn't really care about the characters. Like Lorelei Linklater's. Note to Directors: just because you think your four-year-old's impression of Britney Spears is something to share and is reason to cast her in your major oeuvre doesn't mean you should. Sheesh. Anyway, it seemed to be full of stock themes in coming-of-age stories--parental imprints, sibling relationships, teenage experimentation--and void of much substantive re-shaping of those stories. And come on: single mom goes to uni, and five years later she is teaching there? Yuh...…

I spent (unfortunately only) yesterday at RIC for their three-day symposium, a fourth annual event. With international speakers like Dr. Vanessa Schwarz, Dr. Marianne le Galliard and UCLA PhD candidate Nadya Bair, the talks and following Q&A sessions with audience members were informed and sometimes even a tad heated. Definitely setting aside the whole three days next year. Perhaps I've now blown this little gem out of secrecy? It was beginning to be standing room only already. Pod casts can be accessed by the links on this page. I heard some gem quotes such as "There are four simple words on the matter, which must be whispered: Colour photography is vulgar" (Walker Evans, 1969) versus colour being spectacle and a commodity (Schwartz). I learned about Ansel Adams' zone system that helped him mathematically calculate his photos' composition. I also want to read the important text, Words and Pictures (Hicks, 1951). I think Nadya Bair's dissertation on the co…

I've just returned from my first trip in yonks and will be back to reviewing and recommending soon. And I'm proud to say I did NOT use a selfie stick! La Camicia Bianca Secondo Me exhibit of GianFranco Ferre's work, Museo del Novecento, Milan